We are very pleased to announce the availability of the phpBB3 RC2 package. This is the second release candidate which is meant to become the Gold release if no more bugs or problems arise. Of course there may be more release candidates.

On release candidates full support is given, allowing language packs as well as modifications and styles. We only give support to those having a clean RC installation or updates from RC1, previous conversions or updates from betas will not be supported here. We encourage only those running the release candidates wanting to test out the new version, it is still recommended to wait for the full release; after all this is a release candidate.

During the last weeks the convertor have seen a lot of bugfixes and updates, guaranteeing a much more stable conversion as well as numerous updates. Please refer to the complete changelog for a detailed list of fixes since RC-1:

To re-iterate the support guidelines, we won't support the following installation types:

Updates from phpBB3 Beta versions to phpBB3 RC1 and higher

Conversions from phpBB 2.0.x to phpBB3 Beta versions

phpBB3 Beta installations

We give support for the following installation types:

Updates from phpBB3 RC1 to any higher version

Conversions from phpBB 2.0.x to phpBB3 RC1 and higher

New installations of phpBB3 RC1 and higher

A short explanation of how to do a conversion is included within the provided INSTALL.html file, please be sure to read it. If you want to be on the safe side we suggest still waiting for later releases before you fully convert your 2.0.x installation.

Regarding language packs you may have installed: Please be sure to update your language pack after updating or switch back to the english language pack. Else you may see php notices arising - please do not report any bugs regarding php notices within the posting screen if you have a language pack installed dating back to prior RC2 Release.

Minimum Requirements

phpBB3 has a few requirements which must be met before you are able to install and use it.

A webserver or web hosting account running on any major Operating System with support for PHP

A SQL database system, one of:

MySQL 3.23 or above (MySQLi supported)

PostgreSQL 7.3+

SQLite 2.8.2+

Firebird 2.0+

MS SQL Server 2000 or above (directly or via ODBC)

Oracle

PHP 4.3.3+ (>=4.3.3, >4.4.x, >5.x.x, >6.0-dev (compatible)) with support for the database you intend to use.

getimagesize() function need to be enabled

These optional presence of the following modules within PHP will provide access to additional features, but they are not required.

zlib Compression support

Remote FTP support

XML support

Imagemagick support

GD Support

The presence of each of these optional modules will be checked during the installation process.

Security

Security issues found should be reported to our security tracker in the usual way.

Available packages

Since this is the first time our new automatic updater will be run on thousands of installations we recommend using the "changed files only" method for updating if you experience problems, especially if you modified your installation. Please report any bugs you notice within our bug tracker.

With this release, there are four packages available.

Full PackageContains entire phpBB3 source and english language files.

Changed Files OnlyContains only those files changed from previous versions of phpBB3. Please note this archive contains changed files for each previous release.

Automatic Update PackageUpdate package for the automatic updater, containing the changes from the last release to this release.

Select whichever package is most suitable for you.

Please ensure you read the INSTALL and README documents in docs/ before proceeding with installation, updates or conversions!.

The automatic update package does not include the file includes/utf/data/recode_cjk.php. If you use a SJIS encoding or a variant you should replace this file manually with the version included within the full package.